For anyone that has worked with me, they have likely heard this story as there always seems to be a good time to tell it. It typically starts when a client shares with me that they don’t keep a certain food (oftentimes desserts) in their house because they fear they will eat all of it in one sitting. Or when this food is in their house it consumes their thoughts until it is gone. Or maybe they don’t feel in control around this food. Or they tell me how they don’t ever see themselves keeping this food in their house again!
That’s when I share my Oreo story. It goes something like this:
For as long as I can remember, I have loved Oreos. Typically, I favor the original version, but I’m not opposed to some of the new flavors. When I went off to college and had total control over what was in my kitchen, I went through a period where I wouldn’t keep Oreos in my apartment. If I did, I was sure to go through an entire package in a day or two. I would go months without buying Oreos and then buy a package with a goal to make it last at least a week. The inevitable failure had me really beating up on myself. This love-hate relationship really had me avoiding Oreos altogether and had me questioning why I didn’t have more willpower to not overeat them when they were in my apartment.
But, through my own work on my relationship with food, this has all changed. Now, it is not uncommon to go into our cabinet and find the Oreos there to be stale! While I still enjoy them just as much as I did in college, having them in my house doesn’t consume my thoughts until the package is gone. I can have a few and feel completely satisfied and not have a desire to eat them again for weeks!
The short answer is that the key is not avoiding these foods. I’m not trying to make this process sound simple either. I like to use this story instead to show hope. That it won’t always be like this. You will be able to keep ice cream in your house again! If you have a food (or many foods) like this, I encourage you to reach out to a therapist or dietitian to begin working on your relationship with food. Once I was able to give myself unconditional permission to eat anything, buying Oreos at the grocery became an afterthought and not the main event.
Want to get to a place like this with desserts (or pretty much any other foods)? Contact me (https://ayalanutrition.com/contact/) and we can work on this together!